Monday, 2 February 2015

Under Exmouth Skies (Part 16)

UNDER
EXMOUTH SKIES (Part 16)

As is my wont, I sometimes wander lonely as a cloud to the end of
Exmouth beach, past the sign that says 'Need to talk? Phone the
Samaritans' and up onto the cliff edge. There I gaze out to sea and
watch the gulls gliding, the cormorants diving, and the waves
crashing.

On my latest excursion as I peered down into the abyss I saw drawn
upon the sand of the beach far below a large heart with the words 'Ed
+ Beth' inside. And I pondered upon it because I knew that come the
evening when the tide came in that declaration of love would be
washed away and be gone forever. Those grains of sand arranged to
form a symbol and two words would be dissolved and swallowed up by
the sea and nobody apart from Ed and Beth would ever know they were
once there. That is, if Ed and Beth were actually there together when
the message was drawn? If it was just one of them alone there on that
beach who had drawn it then it would of course be just them alone who
would ever know. But would that make the declaration any less valid?
Would it make it more poignant? A boy or a girl alone declaring their
unrequited love for another only for it to be washed away by the sea?

So I took a photo for posterity.

I don't know who Ed and Beth are but their declaration of love is now
on the World Wide Web for potentially all to bear witness to. I don't
imagine for one moment they will ever know it's here but then that
doesn't really matter because if nothing else it makes for a nice
picture. And that's better than nothing. And any declaration of love
in this world - if even only fleeting before being swept away - is
also better than nothing.

Thank you C. You're very kind. And may I just say your blog is brilliant - and inspiring? And by the way, I've now listened to the Arcade Fire record you wrote about and I'd like to thank you for bringing it to my (and everyone else's) attention. Your taste is impeccable!